


Belle of the Forest

by morrezela



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 13:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11852115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morrezela/pseuds/morrezela
Summary: Haley hides her photography away from others because she feels like she won't fit in without playing her town role. That changes the day she sees Abigail playing her flute.





	Belle of the Forest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kadma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kadma/gifts).



If there was one thing Haley loved more than clothing, it was photography. Creating the perfect outfit was great fun, but no outfit she ever wore could compare to the outfits she created with the lens of her camera. Not that she would ever tell anyone that. Haley had something of a reputation to uphold. She was the pretty girl.

 

When she went to dances, she danced with Alex. Not because either of them had any great romantic affection for each other, but because it was expected.  Girly girls dated jocks. Haley knew that as well as anyone. So did Alex for that matter.

 

Although many would be surprised to learn she had deeper thoughts inside her head, Haley thought about her life quite often. In a town as small as Pelican Town, there was a pressure to fit the mold that you’d always conformed to. Emily was the kooky sister, and Haley was supposed to the perfect princess. Everyone knew everyone else in Pelican Town, and that made the pressure to conform to one specific thing so much greater.  

 

Haley consoled herself that it wasn’t like she was lying to people about who she really was inside. She really did like pretty things and adored being the belle of the ball. And, when she was in the mood to be honest, she knew that she could be a bit of a brat. It was just that there were parts of her that were deeper than what she showed to the town. She never felt so alive as when she was looking through the lens of her camera or developing pictures in her dark room.

 

When she took pictures of people, it was like she saw so much more of them than she normally did. Taking photographs allowed her to consider a person in the setting they were in. When she talked to people, it always felt like she could only see that one, specific person. She only saw what they wanted her to see, but a photograph let her see them in the context of the whole world.

 

Of course, she knew she would sound silly if she ever tried to explain her feelings to another person.  Even though her sister was into dream interpretations, crystals, and other things, Haley couldn’t help but worry that even Emily would be confused about her feelings.  And talking to Alex about it was out of the question. If all their dances had taught her anything, it was that her friend was worse off than she was when it came to portraying a persona to the whole town.

 

Sometimes, Haley just felt truly alone. She didn’t have any musical abilities that would allow her to join Sam’s band.  She wasn’t like Elliot, Sebastian or Leah who were perfectly content to be alone all of the time, working on their various projects. While she was a good photographer, she wasn’t smart like Penny or Maru who were so invested in learning or helping others to learn.

 

“I need to stop thinking about this,” Haley announced to the magazine sitting on the coffee table.  Normally, she would take a walk to relieve her angst, but it was raining out. Haley didn’t have anything against rain, but she did have something against the mud that rain brought with it. She hated trying to clean off her shoes.

 

But the new roll of film she’d gotten her last trip to the city was tempting to use, and the overcast skies could add new depth to the rest of her portfolio. Variety was key when working with photography. At least, that was what her online classes had taught her. She needed to gain experience with many different techniques and moods before she could settle into a specific, signature style.

 

Haley blew out an unsteady breath and pushed herself to her feet. She dug through her clothing to find clothing that would be appropriate for her journey. Namely, items what she was not particularly fond of that were waterproof enough that she wouldn’t get soaked, and she wouldn’t care about ruining with mud. The fashionista in her died a little when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, but she pushed the image out of her brain. Not many people would be out in the rain.

 

Sebastian would be down on the docks, so Haley resolved not to go there. While she doubted he cared enough about her (or anyone really) to gossip, she preferred not to risk it. Instead, she headed in the opposite direction. Robin and Demetrius would be down at the bar, having their date night. Maru would either be with Penny, or locked away in her laboratory, working on her latest inventions.

 

That meant that nobody aside from Linus would be up by the mountain lake, and Linus wasn’t going to be gossiping about Haley having an artsy hobby. Or Haley thinking that she had any sort of talent that she could rely upon other than looking pretty.

 

Haley took a breath and let it out. It was possible that the weather was getting to her more than she would have liked. She set up her equipment towards the top of the lake so that she had several options for her photographs. If she wanted to capture the rain falling down the rock face of the mine, she could. If she wanted to catch the droplets of water creating ripples in the lake’s surface she could. And if she wanted to catch the way the branches of the trees moved, she could do that as well.

 

She immediately set to capturing images as soon as her equipment was ready. She became so engrossed in her photography that she didn’t notice the music at first. But when she did, it was unmistakable. Between the rhythm of the rain, a soft, melancholic tune was being played. Haley was irritated at first that somebody had disturbed her when she had specifically chosen a spot where people would not be.

 

But the song was enchanting in its own way, and so she crept along silently to see who had disturbed her. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that it was Abigail. She was, after all, part of Sam’s band. She was clearly musically inclined. But that she would play something so beautiful in the rain was rather romantic.

 

Without thinking, Haley took a picture of Abigail. Abigail’s eyes were closed, and she probably did not notice the sound of the camera going off over the sound of her own music. But something made Haley stay. She felt a bit guilty for intruding on such a private moment. It seemed wrong to leave without speaking.

 

So she held her camera carefully behind her back and cleared her throat more loudly than she normally would. Abigail’s eyes flew open. She looked startled for a moment before a smirk formed at her lips and she shook her head as if she was amused by her own actions.

 

“Haley, what are you doing out here?” she asked.

 

Haley shrugged. Realizing she had no good answer she lied. “I wanted to go out for a walk, clear my head.”  
 

 

There was an awkward pause for a moment. “Your song was very beautiful,” Haley complimented. “I didn’t know you played.”

 

A smile tugged at Abigail’s lips. “Thank you,” she hesitated for a second before adding, “I don’t usually play my flute anymore, but something about the rain makes it seem appropriate.”

 

Haley nodded because that did make sense, at least it did to her. “Well, I should be going,” she said awkwardly.

 

Abigail regarded her for a second before nodding. “Bye,” she said before bringing her lips up to her flute again.

 

`````````````````

 

Haley would be lying if she said Abigail’s song didn’t haunt her all the way back home. But if Abigail’s song haunted Haley’s return trip, her face haunted Haley’s days. The picture she had taken of Abigail was ethereal. Instead of clashing with her surroundings, her purple hair almost made her look like some unearthly creature.

 

Haley’s heart pounded when she looked at the picture. Her face would flush in a way that it never had when anyone had flirted with her. Haley had known Abigail for years, but she had never noticed how beautiful she was. Or how many layers she kept under all her hair dye and adventurous rebel spirit.

 

Whenever Haley had had a crush before, it had been easily forgotten. It wasn’t anything that stayed with her like Abigail’s picture did. It didn’t make her giddy and yet terrified. Abigail would be… something new for Haley. She would be different from the others, and asking her out would mean something that it hadn’t meant with the others.

 

And the risk for rejection was greater. Although they knew each other, they didn’t exactly hang out in the same circles. If Haley was to think about it, asking Abigail out was just a ridiculous notion period. Why was she so worked up over a song and a polite interaction?

 

Then again, why shouldn’t she be? Wasn’t that how most relationships started? An exchange of pleasantries?

 

Haley glared at her latest gossip magazine and threw it down on the coffee table. “I’m going to do it,” she informed the starlet on the cover. She trotted towards Pierre’s store, face full of determination she didn’t really feel.

 

She almost faltered at the door, but pushed through only to see Abigail on the other side. “Hello,” Haley mumbled, face flushing.

 

“Hey,” Abigail replied.

 

Haley thought about chickening out. She thought about leaving or pushing into the store on the pretense of running some errand. “I’m not who you think I am, you know,” she heard herself uncharacteristically blurt out.

 

Abigail’s eyebrow arched. “Are you an alien?”

 

“What? No. I’m, I’m a photographer,” Haley confessed like she had committed some crime. “It was what I was doing out there. The day you were playing your flute in the woods.”

 

“Oh,” Abigail said.

 

It wasn’t much of a reply to go on, but Haley was okay with that. “I was thinking that I didn’t know you did the whole flute thing. And you didn’t know I was into photography. And that might mean that there were other things we didn’t know about each other that we should,” Haley rambled.

 

Abigail looked intrigued. “Like what?”

 

“Things we could learn if we went on a date,” Haley explained, cheeks flushing.

 

Abigail blinked. “Are you asking me out?”

 

“Yes,” Haley said firmly. “I am.”

 

“I didn’t think you were, you know,” Abigail explained with a shrug.

 

“Like I said, there’s a lot of things people don’t know about me. I’m not just a pretty face any… any more than you are,” Haley said.

 

This time, Abigail’s cheeks pinked up in return. “Well, this is kind of sudden, but… I like adventures. So why not?”

 

Haley gave her a pleased smile and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’d like that a lot.”

 


End file.
